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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why were the teens carrying the items out of the Simpson Street apartment building?

2. While responding to an apartment fire on Simpson Street in Chapter 7, what did the firefighters see two teenagers carrying down the stairs?

3. Why were conditions in the fire station cold in April?

4. What job did Smith take when he quit high school?

5. How must firefighters find the rewards in their profession?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why were the men uneasy as they begin the training drill in Chapter 6?

2. Why does Smith suggest that perhaps even with guidance, South Bronx resident Tina de Vega may still have ended up on drugs and prostituting herself?

3. How did the elementary student, Cynthia, approach her interview with Smith in Chapter 9?

4. How did Dennis Smith feel as a child when the welfare inspector visited his family?

5. Is the poverty seen by Dennis Smith in the South Bronx different than the poverty in which he grew up?

6. Describe the character of Lieutenant Collins.

7. In what key way does Smith say the modern firefighting exams are different from those of the past?

8. In what way does it seem as though Smith--despite his hatred for cockroaches--actually respects them?

9. What were Smith's initial views of firefighting before he joined the department?

10. In what way can the training firemen undergo never be completely sufficient?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most of the malicious false alarms in the engine company's neighborhood were pulled by young children. What did Smith believe was the proper punishment for these children? Did he believe that putting them away for awhile in a juvenile facility would teach them a lesson? Or, would exposure to other, possibly more violent, young people, backfire? How does society determine the proper punishment for a child and whether the child is old enough to be taught a lesson?

Essay Topic 2

The firefighters of Engine Co. 82 made several efforts to connect with the neighborhood children, for example, through ice cream parties. Do these sorts of community outreach projects ultimately help the community and if so, how? How can seeing authority figures "at ease" and off the job help children see them as non-threatening? Smith at one point expresses dismay that firefighters willing to to crawl through a fire to rescue one black child will share ice cream with 100 black children. In what ways do these community outreach projects help firefighters themselves? Do they normally get the chance to see people at their best? Can getting to know the neighbors outside of emergency calls help firefighters develop a deeper and more satisfying relationship with their community?

Essay Topic 3

When he was a child, Smith's mother made him hide the family television set when the welfare inspector came to visit because she was afraid they would not receive extra funding for winter coats. He describes the visit as tension-filled as the family tried to make the right impression. Why did he find this sort of visit humiliating? What kind of image of his family did Smith get when they had to accept random visits from city officials to prove that they were sufficiently poor to warrant help?

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